Student Diversity

Student Diversity. . For many years, Virginia Tech students were all white, all male, and all cadets, and they were mostly Virginia residents and Protestant Christians. By the 1920s, students had come from many states and nations, white women were enrolling, and men could attend as civilians in their third and fourth years. Some students came from Asia, but Black and Native people were barred until decades later. , . 1923: Transfer student Mary Ella Carr Brumfield Garnett '23, Virginia Tech's first female graduate, earns a biology degree with honors. Two years later, she completed a master's degree. (L to R) Garnett with Ruth Terrett Earle, Lucy Lee Lancaster, Louise Jacobs, and Carrie T. Sibold at their graduation in 1925 (Virginia Tech Special Collections) , . 1924: Catholic students form the Newman Club. , . 1927: Cato Lee '27, a native of Thailand and early student from Asia. Bugle, 1927 , . 1929: Jewish students form a club. The B'nai B'rith Hillel Club first appeared in the 1947 Bugle. , . 1935: Carmen Venegas '38 (electrical engineering), seated on the left, a native of Costa Rica, is the first Latina and the first female international student to enroll. Bugle, 1937 , . 1964: All undergraduates are permitted to enroll as civilians, who promptly outnumbered cadets. , . 1970: Students form the Appalachian Student Organizing Committee to coordinate events highlighting Appalachian experiences, learn more about the region, and support one another and surrounding communities. , . 1973: Cheryl A. Butler '76 (art), at left, and Deborah J. Noss Ayers '75 (management, housing and family development) become the first women admitted to the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets). Bugle, 1976 , . 1979: The Gay Student Alliance organizes Denim Day during Tech's first Gay Awareness Week. Nancy Kelly '81, a leader of the first Gay Awareness Week (Blacksburg Sun, Virginia Tech Special Collections) , . 1988: The Islamic Society of New River Valley and Masjid Al-Ihsan foster the emergence of a supportive community for Muslims at Virginia Tech. , . 2007: Rufus Elliott '07 (history) becomes the first member of the Monacan Indian Nation to graduate from Virginia Tech. , . 2016: New cultural centers are established: the American Indian and Indigenous Community Center; El Centro, a Hispanic and Latino center; and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. The Asian Cultural Engagement Center opened in 2017. University Relations, Virginia Tech , The Vietnam War led to numerous protests and to conflict between cadets and civilian students. The civil rights struggle also divided students. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted some students to gather outside Burress Hall to lower the U.S. and Virginia flags there to half-staff and linger to discuss King's ideals, but other students raised the flags again for a time. , The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 banned discrimination on the basis of disability. In 1981, Virginia Tech pledged to improve access to major academic buildings. Challenges continue. , Early Black students were harassed if they silently protested by sitting when the Highty- Tighties played “Dixie” at football games. As a student government representative, Marguerite Harper Scott '70 (history) worked to end the playing of “Dixie.” , Beginning in 1986, the Black Alumni Reunion has provided a way for graduates to connect to the university, even if they did not always feel welcome during their time as students. , [Captions (top to bottom)] , . Arrests after the student occupation of Williams Hall, May 1970 (Virginia Tech Special Collections) , . Left: Early on, the Cosmopolitan Club represented students from places other than Virginia. At mid-century, it welcomed from, or interested in, other countries. (Virginia Tech Special Collections) Right Collegiate Times, 1981 , . (L to R) LaVerne Hairston Higgins, Linda Edmonds Turner '70, and Marguerite Harper Scott '70 at the Black Alumni Reunion awards ceremony, 2016. (University Relations, Virginia Tech) , . Left Helen Maynor Scheirbeck Ed.D '80, a member of the Lumbee Nation, championed tribal recognition and education for Indigenous communities. (Getty Images); Right The annual International Street Fair, which began in 1959, enables students from other nations to share the food and music and other aspects of their home countries' cultures. (University Relations, Virginia Tech) , . In March 2003, approximately 500 people gathered to protest a Board of Visitors decision to amend the anti-discrimination policy (Collegiate Times, 2003). From 2002 to 2004, the voices of students, including the DROP (Direct Resistance of Privilege) Alliance, led to adoption of the Principles of Community in 2005. The principles outline the dignity of all, rights for free expression, and the value of human diversity; reject all forms of prejudice and discrimination; and pledge a collective commitment to the principles in the spirit of the university motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).